"I can't fathom a vet saying something like that. Sounds to me like he was never there...there are a lot of dirtbags around who claim to be Vietnam Vets, who weren't, aren't and never will be...I'd shun him like the liar he probably is."

This may not be universally correct. Case in point: I know this guy to be a VN veteran-no question about it, he was there.
We got together every morning at the fire house for coffee and gossip. One morning I brought in an AR15 another guy had asked about and laid it on the table for "show and tell".
The VN vet went ballistic telling about how those were all plastic except the barrel and made by a toy company. Also how they didn't work and how one had darned near got him killed(this part is basically true). I never said a word-just pushed out the pins and laid the parts out on a paper towel between the coffee cups. After a couple of minutes of ranting, he got up and walked out. His perception and memories had been skewed by a life threatening wound and he truly believed what he was saying.